Divorce mediation
Divorce is not only a legal question: everyday life has to be rethought – who lives where, when each parent has the children, how the finances will work from now on. Mediation helps with this by letting the parties work out the solution themselves, rather than a stranger judge deciding for them.
Which matters to bring
The parties do not need to arrive at divorce mediation with ready answers or decisions. People often come who are still only thinking about divorce, or where, for the time being, only one of the spouses wants it.
The topics that most often come up in divorce mediation:
- —Divorce, or ending a cohabiting partnership
- —Arranging how parental responsibility is exercised
- —Changing the child's place of residence
- —Contact with the parent living separately
- —Determining the amount of child support
- —Division of marital property and marriage contract – with a lawyer's involvement
- —When one spouse wants a divorce and the other is not yet sure
Matters concerning parental responsibility, the child's residence, contact and child support can also be referred to mediation by the court.
Divorce by agreement or divorce with fact-finding
Divorce proceedings can follow two very different paths, depending on the parties' attitude.
Divorce by agreement
Usually 1–2 hearings; it can be concluded in as little as six months. There is no need to list grievances in public, because the parties agree on every issue. The procedure is considerably cheaper, because it is much shorter and simpler.
Contested, fact-finding proceedings
Several hearings, possibly over several years – with witnesses, psychological or other expert opinions. Considerably more expensive and more burdensome for everyone, including the children.
The mediator's role: to steer the parties toward agreement instead of lengthy litigation. A solution or settlement reached through mediation is more likely to be kept, because it was not an outside judge who decided for them, but they themselves. It is also less of a burden on the child than watching their parents clash in a courtroom.
What the divorce agreement covers
The aim is not a perfect solution but one both can live with – one with which both can go on with their lives. The agreement typically covers these questions:
During mediation, the parties – with the mediator's help – work out a joint agreement on the questions above.
With the finished agreement and the petition, they then turn to the court – now jointly.
By this point the court's task is essentially to approve the agreement: since the parties have clarified the disputed questions in advance, a single hearing is typically enough, and on that basis the court pronounces the divorce.
A separate topic: division of property
Dividing the spouses' joint property – real estate and movable assets – is not part of the divorce agreement but a separate matter. If the parties argue about it in court proceedings, it can drag on for years and involves serious costs: the court fee in a property dispute depends on the value of the subject matter – for assets of higher value it can amount to millions of forints. In addition, one must count on the fees of the judicial real-estate and movable-property valuation expert, and on legal fees.
This alone is a good reason to decide the future of movable and immovable property at the negotiating table, through mediation, rather than in court proceedings.
The aim is not to win over the other party, but an agreement with which both can move on.
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